Idol Headlines for 04/23/12 – The Evening Edition

David Archuleta’stwitter, “From David: Tell everyone I say hello and that I absolutely loved my first week here! The people here are amazing! (ks)”

Colton Dixon Shares Why He Thinks He Was Voted Off ‘American Idol’ [AUDIO] – On Being Voted Off “American Idol” – “I was a little shocked too just from never being in the bottom three, but stuff happens and you got to roll with. You gotta keep on fighting.” – Listen to the Audio at RyanSeacrest.com

‘American Idol’ Castoff Colton Dixon Talks ‘Weird’ Song Choice – “I had fun with the song, that was who I was and I had a blast with it,” Dixon said. “And you know, it’s not necessarily a bad message, we all want something that’s not good for us, but that’s how I took the song and I had to edit around some of Gaga’s choice words to have it fit me a little better. But still, I think my audience heard Gaga and just went ‘Oh, weird’ and kinda turned off a little bit, which I understand. I take such a strong stance in my faith, I do understand.” – Read more at MTV

Scotty McCreery will Guest Star on the Heart of Dixie tonight

Scotty McCreery sings “The Trouble with Girls” on The Hart of Dixie, tonight at 9 pm on the CW.

Superstar Kelly Clarkson Releases A New Version Of Her Hit Single “Mr. Know It All” – “Believability is my favorite part about music, from the artists to the musicians,” says Clarkson. “And believability is certainly what draws me, and I’m sure a lot of other people, to country music. The strong lyrics and melodies exude honesty and I think people are always drawn to authenticity.” “At this point in my career, it just felt natural to release a different version of ‘Mr. Know It All’ to country radio,” says Clarkson. “I was so excited when my manager, Narvel Blackstock, told me that Dann Huff was going to produce the new track. I have been a fan of Dann’s for years and he is so talented. Our goal was to create a sassy, soulful vibe. I really hope people like this new version of the song.” – Read more at Sony Music Nashville

CARRIE UNDERWOOD DOUBTS SIMON COWELL WILL BE SQUIRMING TOO MUCH – Carrie, who is making her UK gig debut in spectacular style at the Royal Albert Hall on June 21, tells us: “I’ve heard that it’s quite the big deal. I’ve only been to London as a tourist before.” However it’s not Cowell but another Brit who she would love to see – and maybe even sing with – while she’s in Blighty: “George Michael is at the top of my list. I’ve been listening to him literally my whole life. I had the Wham! tape and I wore that thing out. To duet with him would be amazing, I would love to.“There’s nobody else that has a voice like his.” George – over to you… – Express.co.uk

Elliott Yamin Offers Good Advice To Indie Idols – “I basically had no budget, no label for it. I got to co-write, co-produce the whole kit ‘n’ kaboodle, and I got back to real music, real musicianship, real songwriting. I never got to make records the way did with this project,” Elliott said proudly.

‘Celebrity Apprentice’: Penn Jillette ‘wins’ $250,000 for charity from Caesars – Despite hearing Donald Trump’s parting phrase on Sunday’s (April 23) episode of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” Penn Jillette still managed to win more than $250,000 — the full amount awarded to the ultimate show winner’s charity — for Opportunity Village, a nonprofit serving people with intellectual disabilities, but the big check wasn’t from Trump. It was from Penn’s “real boss,” Caesars Palace. – Read more at Zap2it

Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted.I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!

Goyte is doing a private radio concert this afternoon and Kris is there. :)

Anonymous

Yeah, good for Elliott…but didn’t he only sell 2,000 copies?

Anonymous

I’m (im)patiently waiting for Archie’s first South American food update.

Anonymous

Yeah, good for Elliott…but didn’t he only sell 2,000 copies?

That’s what he sold last week, but the first album went Gold and spawned a top 40 hit. He’s also big in Japan. More importantly, he’s still producing music, and trying to find an audience for his music.

fuzzywuzzy

Thanks for posting that article on Penn, MJ! It was very classy of Rio/Caesars to do that for Penn and his charity, who had conducted himself on the show in a very classy manner. This kind of “storybook” ending rarely happens in real life and it made me smile. :)

Anonymous

You can look on iTunes and see the song spoilers for The Voice tonight. Here is what I found:

Love that David A. is keeping in touch. Saw a tweet that he had been sighted. Hopefully they let David stay as incognito as possible.

Anonymous

Hurray for Penn! Finally being the nice guy pays off. Hurray for Elliott! I do wish he was more successful but he seems so happy with his life that perhaps this is the perfect fame for him.

Nele621

I didn’t know Elliott was big in Japan. Has he sold a lot of records there, and what size concerts has he done. I understand you can make a lot of money there.

Nele621

Colton: “I am trying to be someone that people can look up to and to start a movement.”

How arrogant is he?

Trina

Elliott didnt just have a Top 40 hit, he had a smash Top 10 hit. Not an easy thing even for Idols signed to major labels. He may not be selling a lot now but he did score a gold album and hes still someone who can teach other Idols signed to indie labels some advice.

Anonymous

If you dream small, you will be small.

Anonymous

I’m always happy to hear from David. Also – the son of David’s mission president did a long tweet with a bit of what his dad said about Elder Archuleta. http://www.twitlonger.com/show/h2lvjd And BTW David’s album Forevermore is now released internationally on iTunes.

Anonymous

Bless Your Heart David A. Glad we are getting an update thru his manager. Nice that he had an amazing week.

Anonymous

But wait, I’m confused about Elliott. I meant no disrespect to him. Are you and elliegrll saying he went gold and had a top 10 hit on an indie label? I never followed Elliott and don’t even know what hit song he had. But if he did all that on an indie label then I truly am impressed. The reason I was commenting is he is giving advice to Idols on indie labels, but he only sold 2,000 copies on an indie label. I found that ironic. I had no idea he had that much previous success on an indie label before.

Anonymous

But wait, I’m confused about Elliott. I meant no disrespect to him. Are you and elliegrll saying he went gold and had a top 10 hit on an indie label? I never followed Elliott and don’t even know what hit song he had. But if he did all that on an indie label then I truly am impressed. The reason I was commenting is he is giving advice to Idols on indie labels, but he only sold 2,000 copies on an indie label. I found that ironic. I had no idea he had that much previous success on an indie label before.

Trina

Yes he was signed to Hickory Records. IIRC it was a label that had Sony as a distributor but it was an indie. “Wait For You” was his first single. If you heard the song you would probably be familiar with it but maybe didnt know it was Elliott. Back when it was out it got played to death. I know here in NY it still gets airplay on AC & HAC stations. Besides the gold album I’m pretty sure the song went platinum as well.

Anonymous

Wow, then I really am impressed. I knew he had been successful before (heard it on here) but assumed he was with a major label then. That is a really big accomplishment on an indie label.

Anonymous

I just read that Ryan Seacrest has signed a two year “Idol” contract extension.

Anonymous

From Wikipedia on Elliott Yamin (everyone’s favorite source lol):

Elliot’s self titled album “was released on March 20, 2007, debuting at number three on the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 90,000 copies in its first week. The album was the highest new artist debut on an independent label in SoundScan history. The album was certified gold status by the RIAA on October 12, 2007.” It also says that his single Wait For You was indeed certified platinum.Interesting to read all that about Elliott! I knew he has indie success but didn’t realize he had set a record for chart debut. Pretty awesome.

windmills

Here’s official confirmation with video that Carrie’s Blown Away album will be streaming in full on Itunes a week early. So, possibly as early as midnight tonight.

Kitwana

Good for David for keeping in touch with fans during the mission by sending twitter updates through his road manager. Here are a couple more recent tweets:

From D: Excited to hear “Forevermore” is doing so well. I am glad the fans are enjoying it. Do you know what their favorite songs are? (ks)

From David: “The workshops, gym, lunch, study time, and quiet time are my favorite parts so far.” (KS)

Fans are continuing to follow Archie on Twitter and these tweets keep the fan connection alive without taking too much time from his mission. And from at least one of the tweets, it looks like David is still monitoring the progress of his music career despite being away. I hope he addresses why the Forevermore CD was removed from iTunes after being up for sale a couple of days. It had climbed to #30 in Pop and then poof, it was gone from iTunes and his official website removed the post about the CD being available on iTunes. Really strange.

Anonymous

Isn’t Elliott pretty well know and successful in Japan?

Anonymous

James Durbin fans…I just read a new interview with James posted today from STL Music…when asked about the next album he said:

JD: We are in talks right now about the second record. We’ll start working on it sometime this year with an amazing producer I actually got to write with.

Could this be James Michael from Sixx AM???? That would be absolutely awesome! James Michael is the mastermind behind Higher Than Heaven, but he is a producer too. If that’s who it is that would be fantastic!

callmecrazy

Awe Archieeeee….o/ Hello to you too…so happy things are going so well for you there! Can’t wait to hear more from you…:)

justmefornow

Nice new article about James. He talks about the Be a STAR campaign, his tour with Buckcherry, and new album talk, he’ll be starting later this year with a producer he’s written with. (I would guess from this article either Marti Frederiksen or James Michael, who along with James wrote Higher Than Heaven).

I just posted this exact same thing! I guessed it too. Either him or Marti. Didn’t the three of them write another song together too that didn’t make the album? James has talked about it before, but I can’t remember the song. I do remember James saying the three of them wrote HTH in six hours. I would love to see this collaboration!

Anonymous

As far as I know James never wrote with Marti (although I could be wrong), Marti wrote Love Me Bad, didn’t he? But James did not co-write that song. I am hoping, hoping it’s James Michael.

justmefornow

I’m hoping it’s James Michael too. It probably is, although the three of them did write HTH. (I just checked the song writing credits. lol) I remember when the three of them, wrote and recorded HTH, really quickly. Dylan, weeks later, composed and recorded the guitar tracks and they were added afterwards. Marti wrote LMB with someone else.

I really hope we’re right about James Michael. I think he would be a great producer for James.

Anonymous

I was going to buy Forevermore from iTunes. Why would it be pulled off?

Anonymous

Yes you are right about Higher Than Heaven, I just read another brand new article about James and he says it in this one:

Whoa! I don’t think James is kidding about Jeff. I just looked him up. Did you realize he’s 42 yrs. old? He’s been drumming since he was eleven! He has had a really long and impressive metal career. WOW. (And might I add, He looks mighty fine for 42! Who knew?)

Anonymous

No, I had no idea he’s that old. Wow. He’s almost 20 years older than James. Maybe James wasn’t kidding, I just figured it was another one of his jokes.

justmefornow

I want to know the secret to Jeff’s fountain of youth! Maybe I should take up drumming. lol

Anonymous

I imagine that kind of drumming is really good exercise!

Anonymous

I’m so sick of the egomaniac Colton- if I have to hear him say his audience didn’t like “Bad Romance” the song one more time and not his awful singing, I think I will puke. I’m so tired of his excuses and thinking he is better than he is.

I’m happy for Penn’s charity, though it smacks of a publicity stunt, why did they have to wait for this to give to his charity? They must really need to stroke his ego and try to keep him happy by making him think he won though he didn’t. I’m happy for his charity though.

Anonymous

Well, I doubt she will find out why. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if she comes up with a totally unsubstantiated theory masquerading as a real, true, story. She seems to be really good at that.

Anonymous

Taylor got his mojo on in this fantastic interview with the Hollywood Reporter/Didi Benami. Attitude!

If I remember correctly Elliot sold 90,000 copies of his first album the first week. Clive didnt sign Elliot but the label tried to after they saw how many albums he sold but it was too late. He is very popular in Japan and I think Phillipines.

revcat

If Colton’s fans didn’t vote for him because he sang about a bad romance, jeesh what a bunch of fickle, judgemental crazies. On the other hand, if they didn’t vote for him because he sang very badly, good call.

Anonymous

Wow, all that info. about Elliot is very interesting. Thanks. I think I might check out his music.

fuzzywuzzy

“I had fun with the song, that was who I was and I had a blast with it,” Dixon said. “And you know, it’s not necessarily a bad message, we all want something that’s not good for us, but that’s how I took the song and I had to edit around some of Gaga’s choice words to have it fit me a little better. But still, I think my audience heard Gaga and just went ‘Oh, weird’ and kinda turned off a little bit, which I understand. I take such a strong stance in my faith, I do understand.”

OK, now I’m confused. It seems to me that now Colton isn’t blaming actual song choice for his elimination, but that the problem was choosing a song (any song?) from an artist to whom some of his religious fans have an objection? That they don’t approve of Gaga herself, and so would object to Colton singing any of her music? And that he “understands” because he takes “such a strong stance” in his “faith”? I may be misunderstanding him, but this seems a lot worse than just a negative reaction to a particular song/lyrics, and pretty insulting to Gaga as a person and artist.

Anonymous

That is exactly what I thought thirdtime – great minds think alike! James wrote that song with James Michael and Marti Frederikson. People are down on Marti because he wrote LMB, and fans don’t like that song. But in combination with James and James – the James twins – lol – they wrote a great song. Do you remember who else James Michael has produced? I think it would be cool if James could write with him and have someone like Rick Ruben produce. A thought.

Anonymous

I read that article too and laughed when I saw the Jeff Fabb thing. They probably love teasing Jeff because he is the oldest one in the band. He looks really young but I think he is 40 – at least I think I read that somewhere. Also, Jeff is really well-respected and has been written up in music mags.

Anonymous

OK – I’m replying before I finish the thread – lol. Must stop that.

fuzzywuzzy

“I’m happy for Penn’s charity, though it smacks of a publicity stunt, why did they have to wait for this to give to his charity? They must really need to stroke his ego and try to keep him happy by making him think he won though he didn’t. I’m happy for his charity though.”

Sure, it’s for publicity for both Penn and the Rio/Caesars and that’s the reason for them making the donation on Penn’s elimination. For me though, the bottom line is that there was nothing that forced the Rio/Caesars to give any money and I do think that their favorably impression of Penn’s conduct on the show was the reason for this donation, as a consolation prize for not winning.

Anonymous

Don’t stop – I’m enjoying your posts! Have enjoyed these recent interviews of James a lot, too! Talking about the next album is interesting – he sure doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet!

Anonymous

Anyone else listening to Carrie’s CD streaming on iTunes right now?

Anonymous

Colton is just trying to figure out the reason he was voted out, and the Gaga song is actually one of the reasons people think he is out of the game right now …. is not like he is imagining this, that is actually the comment in many forums, now that you dislike his voice is a different thing , i can agree he was not the best voice in the competition, but he definitely knew his niche , that why his Gaga song risk could be the cause for his elimination and could turned out his voters this week, maybe they didn’t expected he was in danger ….. and tbh he’s actually a good performer ;)

I’m glad for Penn charity too , theycan team with Heejun to do a projet too :)

fuzzywuzzy

Aubrey O’Day was just on Leno. She pretty much gave a 10 minute monologue on how wonderful, talented and creative she is. lol I don’t think that I’ve ever seen anyone so unabashedly and unapologetically self-promoting, self-centered and self-praising. She is exactly like how she presents herself on the Celebrity Apprentice. lol

djafan

So nice to hear from David A and glad he’s keeping us updated.

Tweet from Argentina…David Sighting.

@AleeMunizaga @DavidArchie i saw Archuleta beside me and I can’t give him a hug, I’m dying.

Well, no matter how it “sounds” or whatever, it could be true. Lady Gaga does like to walk around in penis high heels, cross-dress, grope herself, and more. I don’t like her as a person and don’t care for some of her songs which I find inappropriate, but I do like her singing and admire her singing ability. Colton’s not saying that she’s a piece of dirt, he’s just saying his fans may not be fans of HER from a moral standpoint, nor of the song’s message.

“Bad Romance” has lines like, “I want your ugly, I want your disease”, “I want your leather studded kiss in the sand”, “[I want] your vertical stick”, “I want your love, I don’t wanna be friends”…it’s pretty obvious what she’s talking about, and it’s not really the image a fine young Christian boy would want to project. I think it is pretty easy to see how Lady Gag could be offensive to people and how the song itself does not jive well with Colton’s personality and faith. I agree with him that the song/artist choice may have played a fundamental role in his elimination, although I chalk it up more to voter complacency and pity votes thrown the way of Elise and Hollie.

Yeah, Aubrey’s always a “one-woman show”, in her OWN eyes!! I can not WAIT to see her go BYE-BYE on Appentice, as the mere sight of her makes me sick, sick, sick! Did you catch when she was talking to the construction team on the last show and started to say, “Well, I want….”, then she quickly switched to “WE”. But later on she gave that up and went back to “I”.

Anonymous

Bunch of photos of Kris from today’s VH1 SavetheMusic event are popping up on twitter. There have also been some tweets from the kids at the school he visited …sounds like he was a hit :)

Anonymous

I think Elliott has had at least a couple of albums go gold or platinum in Japan. He is very very popular there.

OMG I just watched two episodes of Heetalk. The Colton one was cute but the Px2 one had me howling out loud laughing!

Anonymous

uhhh. if that person really is in argentina, i’m not sure who they’re standing beside but its probably not david archuleta lol.

Anonymous

The problem is Colton thinks he is such a fantastic singer and performer, he could not have possibly performed badly, so it MUST be some other reason, therefore he reaches any excuse he can, and that’s because he chose a Gaga song. He is so pompous and big-headed, no other thoughts can get inside that swollen head of his.

It’s really good to hear about the sightings of David but happy that the Chilean fans are giving him his space.

breakdown

I am thrilled for Penn and especially for Opportunity Village! It is a charity beloved by the Las Vegas community.

Anonymous

Happy Birthday Danny Gokey :)

Anonymous

Taylor got his mojo on in this fantastic interview with the Hollywood Reporter/Didi Benami. Attitude!

I thought Taylor was great but I also was impressed with Didi. I remember stating on this blog at some point or another, that I thought Didi didn’t have the voice to be a successful singer, but she did have the personality to do well as an announcer or on a TV show – so I’m really happy to see her doing this gig. She’s good.

fuzzywuzzy

“Well, no matter how it “sounds” or whatever, it could be true. Lady Gaga does like to walk around in penis high heels, cross-dress, grope herself, and more. I don’t like her as a person and don’t care for some of her songs which I find inappropriate, but I do like her singing and admire her singing ability. Colton’s not saying that she’s a piece of dirt, he’s just saying his fans may not be fans of HER from a moral standpoint, nor of the song’s message.”

I understand everything that you wrote, but my point is that it really wasn’t song choice, per se, that was the problem as Colton initially implied. Gaga has other songs that aren’t as “offensive” as Bad Romance, but now I’m realizing that it wouldn’t have mattered even if Colton has sung a “clean” song by Gaga. The objection by some of his religious fans wasn’t to the song, but to the artist personally. I think that’s an important distinction that wasn’t clear from Colton’s initial comments.

Welcome to the world of independent music where a new artist clearing over 100k in only 6 months without a hit single or loads of radio airplay is considered a HUGE success. 100k was evidently Wind-up’s target for MOABD, and James is now one of their highest sellers, so it’s no surprise that they’re ready to move onto the next album.

All 3 headlining bands at X-Fest gave everyone of us exactly what we wanted to see in a live show. But the man that impressed me beyond my expectations was James Durbin both on and off the stage.I had the opportunity to meet James Durbin along with my 14 year old sister. She loves her some James Durbin. From the moment that James and his tour manager came out he was very cool and professional. He knew how to handle himself in front of a 14 year old fan. But not just that when my bro and I came up to take our photo and visit a little bit he changed gears and was just like another bro, very cool cracking jokes and being very down to earth. James Durbin is a rockstar, they way they are suppose to act.I thank him for being very cool with my little sister and the other little ones that were there as well.If you missed James Durbin live for the after party then you missed one hell of a rock show. James Durbin owned it from the time he took the stage until his closing song.James Durbin stage presence was one playing front of 10,000 people and I would see again in a heart beat.

April sure is packed with Idol b-days. Joshua and Heejun just had one, and Allison's birthday is coming up soon. Her and Joshua were born in the same year. I can't believe she's going to be 20. It seems like just yesterday that she came out of nowhere on Idol and made me a instant fan with her awesome rendition of Heart's "Alone". How time flies. Sigh.<3

Anonymous

Sue, he is really kicking ass on tour. The response he is getting so far at all the shows (Evanescence, X-Fest with Staind, Godsmack & Halestorm) has been unbelievable. I’m so happy for him. I was a little worried about how he would be received by the rock crowds where he wasn’t the headliner, but it seems like they are loving him so far. I think tonight is their first show with Buckcherry. Thanks for posting that.

Anonymous

Thanks Sue for the post-Glad to see he is being recieved well by the Rock crowd also great interview with James-I am so happy for him- just love the guy!

Anonymous

Must read for all who think James is a failure, has no future in music, his album tanked, etc…….oh, never mind. They wouldn’t read it anyway. We know, though. We know.

Anonymous

Go James go! Mr. Best in show. I hope he feels better soon. I see he tweeted that he is sick and spent the day in bed. All his fans were tweeting #Get Well James Durbin. That is a great write-up from his first big rock show – Best In Show – ON JAMES!

justmefornow

Thanks for the link. Nice write up. Just the way I felt when I saw him. Once you see/hear him live you get it. Total Rockstar stage presence! Some people are just born with that kind of charisma, and James is lucky enough to be one of them.

I hope we are all right and his producer for this next album will be James Michael. I also heard he does want to right again with DJ, he’s mentioned it in interviews before.

Oh, and how about that youthful Jeff Fabb?! I couldn’t believe he’s 42. Looking Good Jeff!

Anonymous

” But wait, I’m confused about Elliott. I meant no disrespect to him. Are you and elliegrll saying he went gold and had a top 10 hit on an indie label? I never followed Elliott and don’t even know what hit song he had. But if he did all that on an indie label then I truly am impressed.”

Elliott’s been all-indie, all the time. Not ideal for him, but given that fact, he’s done extremely well. I think all this had been pretty much said by others, but, since we’re talking about Elliott, I just can’t resist. lol

His first album went gold and debuted at #3 on both the US overall and US digital charts. It was the top new-artist indie record in SoundScan history.

His holiday album — which was released in a couple of forms, the first time as part of Target’s holiday series — has sold over 100,000 copies, and peaked at 19 on the U.S. R&B chart and #1 on the U.S. holiday chart.

His second non-holiday album has sold about 50,000 copies.

His hit single Wait for You, from the first album, went platinum and peaked at 5 on pop and 4 at AC and at 3 overall in Japan. The video for Wait for You was #19 in VHi’s end-of-the-year top-40 video countdown.

He’s had a total of four top-30 songs on AC in the U.S. He’s had two top-10 hits in Japan (where he’s also been on an indie label).

I’m hoping he can get some momentum again, now that he’s switched to the old-school thing, which is really who he is (though that doesn’t play as well in Japan — his most recent album over there has pop production).

With all this, though, Elliott’s real strength is in live performing, where he’s absolutely killer. The musicianship comes through in a big big way, with him just riffing the heck out of his songs. He’s had excellent touring bands throughout, too.

On top of all this, he’s been a real charity and activism stalwart, doing tons of stuff — fundraising, lobbying, etc — for juvenile diabetes (no surprise, of course, since he suffers from it), and being a real mainstay for Malaria No More, as well as other causes.

I hope for a long career for him, one way or another.

Anonymous

Happy 30th birthday to Kelly Clarkson!!! :)

ETA – And Happy Birthday to Danny Gokey, too!

revcat

His fans are putting him in a box, good luck, singing at churches is a respectable gig but i think Colton wants more but if he doesn’t broaden his base that will be the extent of his career.

Anonymous

I can’t understand why James is even getting another album. His sales suck, and a little bounce last week will not be there this week.

The problem is that you aren’t looking at this a someone who is in the industry. It’s been said a million times, but if you think that James’ numbers suck, then you would feel the same way, or a lot worse about the number albums that his label mates are selling. There are only two or three acts at Wind Up whose last albums have sold as much as James. Nobody expects rock acts at an indie label to sell millions of albums.

The label knows what they expect from James, but if you want to put James’ numbers in the right context, just look at the totals for some of the acts on his label, or other alternative rock artists.

Tess

I think Colton singing GaGa was a calculated risk on his part that back-fired big time. Besides the song being too big for him and his life experiences, obviously being too limited to do the song justice, and singing it horribly he seemed to alienate the far right of his fan base without gaining some of the secular community he may have been after. The producers and TPTB warned Colton that being too polarizing and “choosing” a fan base may have consequences. If any of those fans who support you because of “personal” rather than professional reasons (ie: value system) and if you “screw” with that you can pretty well pack your bags. AI is not, and I don’t think has ever been, about the voice or the skill set…it is about the package….and tear a little whole in the package and it can unravel very quickly. Future contestants need to heed AI’s warnings…they really do know best.

Anonymous

His fans are putting him in a box, good luck, singing at churches is a respectable gig but if Colton wants more he will have to broaden his base. He can be commercial without giving up his values but he needs to give up his smug attitude IMO.

While I believe that Colton is ignoring the fact that he had a bad night last Wednesday, and that he has been inconsistent on the year, if he wants to be a Christian Rock artist, he has to be aware of the fact that some of his fans aren’t going to be open to songs that are about certain subjects. His rendition of Bad Romance wouldn’t be played on the radio formats that he’s aiming for. Even though this is about religion, every artist has to be aware of what their audience wants, and what things might turn off potential consumers.

BTW, I don’t think the song choice was Colton’s major problem. He picked the wrong week to have a bad night, and he was probably splitting votes with Phillip, who had a better night, and performed one song that might have caught the attention of casual voters. I also doubt that Colton’s base was as solid as he believed it was.

Anonymous

“BTW, I don’t think the song choice was Colton’s major problem. He picked the wrong week to have a bad night.”

Moral of the story: Yes, be careful about picking a song that might alienate your fans, if you have any inkling that your fans can be alienated by song choice, but whatever you pick, sing the heck out of it. He didn’t. If he had sung the heck out of it, he might have alienated some of his biggest fans but still picked up enough votes from casual viewers and the fans of others to have hung around, in a season where it looks like the votes may be pretty close week to week.

Much as Randy annoys me, there’s one thing he frequently says that’s all too true: Whatever you pick to sing, sing the heck out of it. Doing that has helped more than one person stay around for many more weeks than anybody originally thought possible. Elliott comes to mind, for just one example.

Rick Ruben is a brilliant producer, Metallica anyone? It’s possible that James might work with more than one producer for the 2nd album as he said in another interview that he’ll be “working with some different people this time.”

Anonymous

OK color me confused. James said he doesn’t want to write again with DJ in SixxAM?